Forgiveness
by Child-Chan
Summary: Jack is willing to forgive Pitch for the whole "taking over the world" thing. But is Pitch willing to forgive himself? He didn't just lose the fight to the Guardians. He may of lost something even worse.


**Heya, everyone!**

 **I had some free time today so I sat down and finished a story a started a while back. If it seems scrambled, it's because of it has just been sitting in my notebook for a bit.**

 **It could also be bad since I'm still a beginner, though I've been writing for a while, so I guess the milk on that excuse should dry up soon.**

 **Um, right, don't own ROTG.**

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It had been almost a year since the guardians forced Pitch back into hiding. It had taken Pitch a whole year to regain control of his nightmares and rebuild his strength. And in that year he had realized he had made a horribly foolish mistake. He had given up the one spirit who might have actually been on his side for stupid _revenge_. Yes, he had wanted to be believed in, but it went much deeper than that. Since their creation, every time Pitch had showed so much as a shadow, the guardians had been there to force him back. They had needed to pay.

Revenge against the guardians had cost him Jack Frost. He had seen the understanding, the _desire_ , to believe Pitch. He had almost joined together with Pitch. And nothing could convince Pitch that if he hadn't been so focused on destroying the guardians and just paid even a little more attention to the winter spirit, he would have found himself a companion.

But he had ruined it.

Jack Frost had joined the guardians and helped force Pitch once again back underneath beds. And he had done it so effortlessly. This only furthered Pitch's belief that Jack had been holding back because part of him wanted to take Pitch's offer. Part of him just wanted to belong, even if it had to be with the Nightmare King.

Since Pitch had realized his major screw up, he avoided Jack like the plague. He hardly went out so it wasn't much of a problem. But sometimes he'd feel a cold chill sweep through his lair. Sometimes he could hear the soft crunching of the snow hovering up above. Sometimes he would receive snow figurines at the entrance of the lair. Sometimes he thought Jack Frost was trying to coax him out.

He had been able to ignore it all for months. The last straw was a black ice snowflake made from the collision of Jack's and Pitch's powers in Antarctica. It had been left at the entrance like all the others but Pitch knew it had a deeper meaning than all the others. Jack Frost had been ready to talk.

Now it was time for Pitch to finally be ready.

So when the sun set that evening, Pitch left his lair to find Jack. He didn't have to look far. As soon as he was above ground, he saw Jack sitting just yards away on the bank of his frozen lake. Pitch froze instantly. What if the idea that Jack wanted to talk and forgave him was just wishful thinking? What if this was just a trap to get him to come out so they could get rid of him once and for all?

Pitch just stared silently at Jack's back for a while. While they were fighting, he never realized how incredibly small Jack was. If he didn't have such power, it would be no effort to crush him physically. And in the moonlight, he just looked so fragile.

'Like a snowflake,' Pitch thought ironically.

He got over his nerves at that moment and approached slowly. Though Pitch was making as much noise as he could so as to not startle him, Jack never so much as looked up. It hurt Pitch a little to get ignored but he knew the spirit must be dealing with his own emotions so he got over it. He sat down beside Jack joined in sitting in the silence.

Of course it was Jack who broke the silence first. Still never looking at Pitch, he said, "I forgive you."

"I tried to kill you," Pitch hissed. He wanted to kick himself as soon as the words left his mouth. Why couldn't he just accept the words he'd longed to hear and be over with it? Was he such an idiot?

"I know," Jack said. Pitch didn't need the moonlight to know he was smiling. "And I forgive you for it."

"I don't want your forgiveness!" Pitch shouted. "I want your blood."

Wait. What? Why had those words come out? He hadn't even thought of something like that in almost six months!

"Pitch."

Jack had turned and gotten up on his knees so his face was inches from Pitch's own. His eyes were set in kind determination that sparked a small heat of anger in Pitch's blood. It was confusing for him. He thought pity would've been the thing to anger him. So why was it kindness instead?

"You wouldn't be here if you wanted my blood," Jack continued. "You would be in your lair, plotting on some way to get back at us. You came because you regret what you did."

"I don't regret it," Pitch said quickly. But when Jack continued to stare at him, he breathed in. "At the time, I didn't know. I didn't understand. I thought what I was doing would get me everything I wanted."

"But it didn't, did it?"

Pitch didn't answer. Instead, he looked away from Jack. When he opened his mouth, his words were just a whisper. "Tell me, Jack."

"Tell you what?"

"If I hadn't done the things I did," he said. "If I had just gone to you, would you have joined me?"

"In making children fear you? No," Jack answered. "But, Pitch, I would've been your friend. I was looking for someone just as much as you were."

"You don't think I know that?" Pitch growled out before he could stop himself. "You don't think that I wish I would've just talked to you, that I would've just comforted you? You don't think I look at my hands, knowing how much blood and torment are there, and know you're nothing like that? Knowing if I could've just changed for even just a minute, _you would've given me a reason to stay that way_. That I—"

"Pitch," Jack interrupted. "I know. It's something you need to keep in your heart so you don't do it again, but it doesn't matter anymore. I know you've changed."

Pitch would've made a comment that he didn't have a heart, and if he did it would be pitch black like the rest of him, but instead he said, "How do you know? I haven't come up since last year."

The grin on Jack's face was dazzling. "It isn't hard to befriend your nightmares."

" _What?_ "

"I know you still give children nightmares," Jack said. "But I understand. They're things that kids need to know, or what they expect. They need to be afraid of the dark ocean or straying too far from their mom. And then there are those kids who stay up reading scary stories because they _want_ nightmares."

"I don't know what you mean," Pitch lied.

Jack just continued to smile. "Of course you don't."

Pitch stared awkwardly at his feet. He'd never been good at expressing what he was thinking. He wasn't as honest and kind hearted as Jack. He was used to letting things fester inside of him until he was ready to burst. But now all that was inside of him was anger towards himself. He _did_ regret going after the children and the Guardians. The children were just a means to an end. But the Guardians…. Oh, the Guardians. They fully deserved the hatred boiled inside of Pitch.

But not Jack Frost.

No, even though Jack Frost had gone against him, he knew it was only for the children. Well, and his memories. Jack just wanted to be left alone as he was forced to become used to. He just wanted to watch the children laugh in his beautiful snow. And Pitch had ruined all of that.

"What is that _face_?" Jack busted out in a fit of giggles. Pitch stared at him in confusion. "You look like your trying to take a dump or something! Really, Pitch, is it that hard to just accept forgiveness?"

"Yes!" Pitch answered honestly. "Because I'm the Boogeyman. I'm the tormenter of children and your natural enemy. Things like 'forgiveness' are as foreign to me as the Sahara Desert is to you."

Jack rolled his eyes. "You're so dramatic."

Pitch looked offended. He moved to stand but Jack was already up before, apparently determined to follow him. Pitch wasn't actually going to leave since he had a chance to mend his mistake but he was tempted to disappear just because of Jack's cockiness. "I suppose you're intending to follow me?"

"Until you accept my forgiveness."

"What if I never do?" Pitch asked.

"Then I guess you're stuck with me."

* * *

 **Choppy, right? Oh, well. I just figured this might be one of the expected reactions of Pitch after the battle. Fight. Thing. Though most people seem to think he'll go after revenge again. So double revenge, I guess. But I made it sad. I'm good at that.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading!**


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